What is the difference between training and learning sessions?
Learning is the process of absorbing information and retaining it to increase the skills and abiliti Read More
What does Ofsted say about play?
Hailee Bergstrom
2025-08-20 02:14:33
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: 22
Ofsted says that play-based learning and direct instruction are both important for young children. The report points to previous research to conclude that the most effective settings likely combine both approaches. Sometimes, play-based learning is the best approach. Other times, children need an adult to show or teach them something new. Children will not reliably bump into mathematical ideas solely through play and physical exploration. Although carefully-planned play is another powerful opportunity for children to use and develop their language, the inspectorate warned that without careful curriculum thinking, it can fall short.
Andrew Boyer
2025-08-10 23:28:14
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: 15
Ofsted should measure school performance based on the amount of time pupils have to play, a new report suggests. The report recommends Ofsted should start including “play sufficiency” – specifically how much time children have to play – as a measure of school performance. It says this would “encourage schools to boost play in school time and reward those schools who value play highly”. Ofsted declined to comment.
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Does playtime enhance classroom learning?
Play keeps children fit, too. A study by Nicola D Ridgers at Deakin University in Australia found th Read More
Anissa McCullough
2025-08-03 19:56:26
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: 20
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector commissioned this good practice survey to gather evidence to address the recurring myth that teaching and play are separate, disconnected endeavours in the early years. Her Majesty’s Inspectors visited a sample of the most successful early years providers to observe the interplay between teaching and play and evaluate the difference chosen approaches were making to the learning and development of disadvantaged children, especially funded two-year-olds. All providers, which included maintained schools, pre-schools, children’s centres and childminders, were selected because they were successful in achieving good or better outcomes for children in some of the most deprived areas of the country.
Shaun Leannon
2025-07-23 23:01:31
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: 20
Play-based learning in Reception classes sometimes does no more than occupy children’s time. If it does not challenge their thinking, problem-solving, persistence and collaboration, it is ineffective in developing their executive functioning. Such poorly planned play keeps children busy but does not support their development: their hands and bodies are active, but their minds are not. Teachers, it is suggested, ‘should plan and prepare resources for play that reflect children’s differing knowledge and broaden their interests’. It is further suggested that teachers might plan for children to practise what they have learned in their play, with the example given of children learning to jump and hop with accuracy and control by watching an adult demonstration and then having a go themselves. The report appears to place strong emphasis on the need for adult direction to ensure that children experience what the report calls ‘high-quality play.’
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What is the difference between training and teaching?
Teaching is more theoretical and abstract, while training is more hands-on and practical. Teaching s Read More
What does Girfec say about play?
Active – having opportunities to take part in activities such as play, recreation and sport, which c Read More